Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Sacrifice Brings Forth the Blessings of Heaven!

12/14/15Bonjour friends and family and everyone Love!

Christmas is drawing very near and I hope that you are all enjoying the warm spirit in the air (even if it is not as warm as the spirit here in Tahiti! hahaha) and preparing yourselves for this wonderful holiday that will soon be here! Christmas on a mission is really cool! People's hearts really do seem to soften when they remember our Savior and his sacrifice for each of us. Sacrifices are extremely important and I will tell you why, but first I will give you a little update of things.

We had a great week with lots of good things. We prayed to be led by the spirit to the people who needed us most and we found some great new investigators! It is crazy to think about how much I love meeting people! People are amazing and I love getting to know them and their stories and finding how the gospel can help them! With the spirit, there is always something in the gospel that can touch a heart and change a life. Marwinda and Tane finalized their wedding papers this week, their wedding and baptism should be the 24th of December. Keep them in your prayers, because their parents are having a hard time accepting this change in their lives. They are amazing people who have sacrificed so much for God.

On Saturday, we had permission to go to the other side of the island to a baptism for an investigator that soeur Cromar taught in one of her old areas. The baptism was beautiful and I got to see my sweet trainer soeur Hunter and my amazing trainee soeur Shariatmadari, so it was a happy experience! We also got to drive through Papeari which was cool! So many memories came running back through my mind and I loved it! After we passed Papeari the weather starting acting up and it was raining harder than I had ever seen. The ocean was high and the waves started pulling out. All of the sudden we were stopped by the police on the road saying that there was a rock slide and that the road no longer functioned. As we tried to turn around the same thing happened right behind us. We pulled the car off the road and eventually got it into a safe spot. We got on the balcony of a random house and watched the storm. The road was no longer in view and the river that was right next to where we were carried various items like televisions and washing machines down into the ocean. It felt like a dream. We waited for about four hours until things calmed and they were able to repair the road enough for one car to pass. We made it home and meditated in silence. Lots of people lost their houses and other valuables. But the amazing thing is that minutes after this disaster striked, members were in their trucks with their work supplies helping the cause. Lots of members didn't even get to sleep Saturday night and still came to church on Sunday. And though so many lost so much the spirit is still in the air and people are more loving because of the wonderful sacrifices of others.

Sacrifices are so important in our life. As members of this true church, we covenant with God to sacrifice for him. Joseph Smith says that a church without sacrifice is a church without faith! When we sacrifice things for God or others, we are really practicing our faith. Also, when sacrificing, we have to give things that are important or of great worth to us or Heavenly Father. If it's not important to us, it's not important to him and it's not a sacrifice. The three most important things to sacrifice are our sins, our time, and our will. These things are surely things that we love and that are important to us! So why not sacrifice them for a better cause? Knowing that blessings are sure to follow, because like the song says, sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven! So as you go throughout your week, look for opportunities to sacrifice these things! Come to know our Heavenly Father by giving secretly and he will reward you openly! Have a broken heart and a contrite spirit and know that he loves you and will bless you with his miracles! I also wanted to thank you all for your sacrifices that you are already doing! Thank you for your sacrifices for me, I truly do appreciate it and I would not be who I am or where I am today without your sacrifices! I love you all and miss you so much! Keep enjoying this Christmas season!